Gandalf’s Prison and a Word We Did Not Discuss

Matt DeForrest

Active Member
I got a call from my family last week (a happy, if unexpected, virtual gathering) so missed the class discussion. I did notice one word (emphasis added) we missed in the discussion of the first slide:

They took me and they set me alone on the pinnacle of Orthanc....”

The they here, mentioned twice, implies some of our imagined stagings (Uruk Hai or men entering with bows drawn at the end of the discussion.) have a basis in the text. It also goes a long way to explaining how Saruman so easily overcame Gandalf. It wasn’t that Saruman was significantly more powerful than Gandalf (The conversation following the flooding of the Ring of Isengard implies Saruman was not expecting a large power differential between wizards.). It was that Saruman had maneuvered Gandalf into a position where he knew Saruman had arranged things so that he had the upper hand and there was no point in fighting. Indeed, there is an implication in the unnamed “they“ that Saruman didn’t escort him to his prison.

The plural also stresses the series of singular pronouns that come, where Gandalf is pointing out how alone he is when surrounded by a sea of enemies — a sea that Saruman has now disappeared into. It has moved beyond a struggle within the White Council. Now, Saruman is a power in the world, akin to Rohan or Gondor, rather than an independent operative.
 
Well spotted on the 'they' word Matt.

I think you are likely correct in supposing that Saruman had warriors and/or archers stationed in concealment during his discussion with Gandalf. It is likely that he suspected that Gandalf had already claimed the One Ring. If so, his confidence in being able to defeat Gandalf by himself, even with his own Ring (whatever powers that may have had) was probably not high. So, concealed archers ready to loose arrows at a hidden signal would have made a great deal of sense.

Besides, it is quite possible that Saruman did not ascend all those stairs to accompany Gandalf to his Orthanc-top prison. Exhausting! That sort of task is better left to minions. 'They' makes it clear that minions were present, and, I guess it was 'they' who conducted Gandalf up the stairs.
 
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